After an unsuccessful search, the restaurant's owner called the Daily News publication for help.

“I’m happy for her, really. Saturdays are pretty busy, and I was very close to taking everything left on the table and throwing it out when I saw an envelope,” Markaj, 27, told The News. “I just pulled up the flap and I saw ‘Citibank’ and thought it was important, so I ran out to the street to look for her, but she was gone.”

Though Karen Vinacour, 79, realized her mistake and quickly called Patsy's, she called the wrong location, and since she never returned to claim the check the restaurant's owner tried to find her.

A "relieved" Vinacour was finally reunited with her check on Wednesday. It contained her life savings — proceeds from her apartment sale, earmarked for a down payment on a new home.

Vinacour was frantic after she learned from her bank that it would have taken three months to reissue a new check.

Vinacour admits she had not tipped the waiter after her meal because she was not happy with his response when she asked why there weren't a lot of photos of women on the restaurant's famed wall. She tried to rectify that when she went to pick up her check, but he graciously declined her tip.